2008 Regional Bus Survey Preliminary Results Presentation to the Access for All Advisory Committee Robert E. Griffiths Technical Services Director April 23, 2009

Expanded On-Board Survey Ridership Totals SystemWeekday Riders (Preliminary Factors) ART5,400 TheBus15,300 CUE3,600 DASH14,700 TransIT2,800 PRTC12,400 Fairfax Connector66,500 Ride-On98,000 Metrobus454,900 Total673,500

Bus Riders Jurisdiction of Residence System Percent Distribution DCSuburban Md N. VirginiaOutside Region ART5%4%90%1% TheBus11%88%1%--- CUE5% 88%2% DASH3% 94%1% TransIT---97%---3% PRTC---1%98%1% Connector3% 91%3% Ride-On5%93%1% Metrobus49%33%16%1% All38%43%18%1%

Jurisdiction of Residence Findings Except for Metrobus, most systems primarily served residents of a particular geographic sub- area of the region More than 10% of TheBus riders are DC residents

Access Mode to Bus WalkMetrorailBusAuto DAuto PBikeOther ART76%15%7%1%--- 1% TheBus49%21%10%15%3%---2% CUE65%26%6%1% ---1% DASH71%14%10%1%2%---1% TransIT70%1%25%1% ---1% PRTC49%7%12%22%8%---2% Connector49%25%14%5%4%---2% Ride-On54%19%20%2%3%---1% Metrobus59%17%18%2% ---1% All58%17%18%3%2%---1%

Mode of Access Findings Except for PTRC and TheBus, more than half the riders access their bus by walking to it The PRTC and TheBus systems have large percentages of riders who park-and-ride, at 22% and 15% respectively PRTC was the system with the greatest percentage of auto passenger drop-offs (8%) TransIT and PRTC have the lowest percentage of rail-to- bus transfers (1% & 7%); CUE had the highest percentage (26%)

Purpose of Trip Go to Work Job- Related Personal Business Shopping or Meal To School Soc/ Rec Other ART62%3%13%6%15%1%--- TheBus54%4%28%6%5%3%--- CUE57%2%14%3%17%5%2% DASH63%4%14%8%6%5%1% TransIT56%10%18%11%4%2%--- PRTC68%3%13%9%4%3%--- Connector58%NA Ride-On52%4%19%9% 6%1% Metrobus55%5%20%7% 5%--- All55%5%20%7%8%5%1%

Trip Purpose Findings Commuting to work accounts for one-half to two-thirds of the trips on each bus system TheBus was the system with the greatest percentage of its riders traveling for personal business reasons (28%) TransIT was the system with the greatest percentage of its riders making shopping trips or going to a restaurant (11%) A significant percentage of CUE and ART riders were traveling to school (17% for CUE and 15% for ART)

How Fare was Paid CashSmart Trip Weekly Pass Rail Transfer Bus Transfer Senior Discount Other ART45%36%8%2% 1%7% TheBus63%8%3% 6% 11% CUE39%31%2% 3%---24% DASH43%37%2% 4%---12% TransIT71%--- 3%4%5%18% PRTC34%57%--- 1%8% Connector48%41%--- 11% Ride-On34%26%15%2% 5%16% Metrobus34%42%11%2%3% 5% All35%38%11%2%3%4%7%

Fare Payment Findings SmarTrip was the predominant payment method used by PRTC (57%) and Metrobus (42%) Cash was the primary mode of fare payment for TransIT (71%) and TheBus (63%) riders A significant percentage of Ride-On (15%) and Metrobus (11%) riders paid their fare using a weekly pass Approximately 5% of TheBus, TransIT and Ride-On riders paid a discounted senior citizen/disabled rider fare.

Number of Transfers System Total Number of Bus and Rail Transfers No Transfers One Transfer Two Transfers Three or More Transfers ART38%45%13%4% TheBus31%47%16%6% CUE38%47%12%3% DASH40%44%13%3% TransIT34%52%9%5% PRTC58%29%7%6% Connector34%45%16%5% Ride-On31%48%16%6% Metrobus33%45%17%5% All33%45%17%5%

Findings on Number of Transfers Between 60% and 70% of the riders on each system reported making one or more transfers to reach their destination Only about 40% of PRTC riders reported transferring to another transit vehicle to complete their trip

Receive Transit Benefit from Employer? SystemYesNo ART32%68% TheBus13%87% CUE23%77% DASH35%65% TransIT5%95% PRTC42%58% ConnectorNA Ride-On21%79% Metrobus24%76% All24%76%

Findings on Transit Benefits Overall 24% of the surveyed bus riders reported receiving a transit benefit from their employer Approximately 42% of PRTC riders, 35% of DASH riders and 32% of ART riders said that they received a transit benefit Only 5% of TransIT riders and 13% of TheBus riders said they received a transit benefit from their employer

Number of Household Vehicles System Number of HH Vehicles No Vehicles One Vehicle Two Vehicles Three or More Vehicles ART43%42%13%3% TheBus49%26%21%4% CUE45%31%19%5% DASH37%43%17%3% TransIT52%31%10%7% PRTC26%30%28%17% Connector40%29%23%8% Ride-On43%31%19%6% Metrobus53%30%13%4% Total50%31%14%5%

Findings on Household Vehicle Availability Approximately 50% of the riders on the Metrobus, TransIT and TheBus systems are from households without autos or other vehicles PRTC Riders were twice as likely to live in households with 2 or more vehicles than bus riders on other systems and three times more likely to live households with 3 or more vehicles in than riders on other systems

Was a Vehicle Available for This Trip? SystemYesNo ART42%58% TheBus27%73% CUE33%67% DASH40%60% TransIT24%76% PRTC54%46% Connector37%63% Ride-On30%70% Metrobus28%72% All29%71%

Findings on “Choice” Bus Riders The PRTC ART and DASH systems had the greatest percentages of “choice” riders Choice riders are riders who had a vehicle available to them to make the trip they were making, but “chose” to make the trip by bus instead

Race/Ethnicity of Riders Asian Black/ African- American HispanicNative American WhiteMulti- Racial No Response ART4%34%27%---28%1%6% TheBus2%70%10%---10%1%7% CUE31%18%14%---31%2%3% DASH7%35%15%1%33%1%9% TransIT2%42%21%---31%4%1% PRTC4%36%14%1%38%1%6% Connector35% Ride-On9%45%16%---23%2%6% Metrobus4%59%10%1%19%2%6% Total5%56%11%1%20%2%6%

Race/Ethnicity Findings The majority of riders on TheBus and Metrobus systems identified their race/ethnicity as Black/African American By far, CUE had the greatest percentage of riders identifying themselves as Asian (31%) The ART and TransIT had high percentages of their riders identifying themselves as Hispanic, 27% on ART and 21% on TransIT TheBus had the lowest percentage of riders identifying themselves as white (10%)

Household Income <10K10-20K20-40K40-60K60-100K100K+ No Response ART22%10%15%10%15%14% TheBus16%8%24%11%17%7%17% CUE20%9%19%15%10%12%15% DASH16%8%20%13%16%14%13% TransIT31%9%32%11%5%3%8% PRTC14%6%13%9%18%28%12% Connector(43%<30K),( 29% 30-70K), (18% K),( 11% 125K+) Ride-On18%10%20%15%13%9%15% Metrobus19%11%23%14%12%9%12% Total19%10%22%14%13%9%13%

Household Income Findings Overall, 19% of the bus system riders surveyed reported annual household income of less than $10,000 and more than half of all riders reported household incomes of less than $40,000 Almost one-third of TransIT riders reported household incomes of less than $10,000 About one-quarter of PRTC riders reported household incomes in excess of $100,000

Questions on Survey Results and Findings?